Ethics Experts: Trump Still Faces Serious Conflicts Of Interest

US President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a press conference January 11, 2017 at Trump Tower in New York. (TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images)

Three independent ethics experts denounced president-elect Donald Trump’s plan to maintain ownership in his business empire while putting it into a trust overseen by his two sons, Eric and Don, and his longtime Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg.

“He has all of the conflicts of interest that he had before,” said Richard Painter, who served as chief ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration. “We don’t know who his business partners are, we don’t know who he owes.”

“I hope we don’t have a terrorist attack on some building with his name on it,” Painter added. “I hope we don’t have an international crisis in a country where he has a lot of money invested. If Turkey and Russia get in a fight or something, it’s not a question about, well, what about my hotel?”

In a press conference inside Trump Tower on Wednesday, Trump said his plan goes beyond what he is required to do. “I could actually run my business and run government at the same time,” he said. “I don’t like the way that looks, but I would be able to do that if I wanted to.”

Trump’s company will employ an ethics advisor, who will have to sign off on all new deals that could raise conflicts of interest concerns, according to Sheri Dillon, a lawyer at the firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, which helped design the structure.

“President-Elect Trump wants there to be no doubt in the minds of the American public that he is completely isolating himself from his business interests,” Dillon said. “He instructed us to take all steps realistically possible to make it clear that he is not exploiting the office of the presidency for his personal benefit.”

Jan Baran, who served on George H. W. Bush's ethics commission, said Trump's critics are just engaging in petty politics. "It's clear that President-elect Trump is going to face criticism from his political opponents for the next four and maybe eight years," Baran said. "His burden was not to satisfy the ethics nannies who are confusing their opinions with what is legally required."

But Scott Amey, general counsel for the Project on Government Oversight, isn't convinced. "There were other ways to handle these conflicts of interest, and it seems as if there was more just a lack of will than anything else," Amey said. "By retaining an ownership interest, that is just going to open him up to controversy and litigation for the lifetime of his term. I mean, who is not going to want to sue 'Trump Industries' and name Donald Trump and drag him into a deposition."

Norman Eisen, who served as a lawyer in the Obama administration, also denounced the reorganization. “Tragically, the Trump plan to deal with his business conflicts announced today falls short in every respect,” Eisen said in a statement. “Mr. Trump's ill-advised course will precipitate scandal and corruption. I and many others will respond strongly in defense of ethics and our constitution.”

One person who will be keeping a close eye on Trump’s potential conflicts of interest is Representative Elijah Cummings, a Democrat from Maryland who serves on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

“In nine days, President-Elect Trump risks violating the United States Constitution and threatening the credibility of our democracy by refusing to follow in the footsteps of every modern American president,” Cummings said in a statement. “Trump has chosen not to divest his ownership interests, not to liquidate all of his business assets, and not to place the proceeds in a truly blind trust run by an independent entity, which is the opposite of what was recommended by Republican and Democratic ethics experts.”